Release RC8 · PlanetaryRobotics/IrisRoverPackage

1. Summary

Upload of actual binaries uploaded to Iris FM1 during Release Candidate 8 (RC8) opportunity on 03/14/23. To expedite the RC8 process, EGSE setup for RC8 was performed in advance on 03/11/23. Includes both FSW and GSW (backend) since they’re now both tracked on release-candidate. Note: the GSW included here is the latest (as of RC8) IPC release which was used for PCAP parsing and image reconstruction during RC8 prep. The actual GSW used for serial monitoring used during RC8 was the GSW from RC7 (due to lack of operator training with the new GSW). At the time of upload, this was considered the final in-person upload opportunity prior to the Moon.

Note: unlike previous releases, due to extreme constraints on time, this was not done from the release-candidate branch and, instead, the rc8/camera-hail-mary branch. That said, this pointer goes to release-candidate and accurately tracks the changes that were used during this release, which were brought over in PR #212 .

GSW logs from the various interactions with the Flight Rover (FM1) during this operation can be found in transciever_logs_RC8.zip and packet_prints_RC8.zip.

2. General Release Notes

During this opportunity, battery charging was performed then code upload.
Unlike other recent RCs since RC4, due to electrical (grounding?) issues on the silver Lenovo µHermes laptop discussed later, the black IBM X1 Carbon µHermes laptop was used to program in the cleanroom. No workspace was archived for this release, but it should match the workspace used for this same laptop during RC7.
NOTE: During this opportunity, the rover was demated from the lander and powered by external EGSE, occasionally with a test EGSE lander harness installed. In the end, however, the rover ended up being programmed using battery power with nothing attached to the lander connector.
NOTE: Starting with this release, the Watchdog must be put inHercules Programming Mode (program the WD using the Debug_Radio_Herc_Flashing flag in CCS or send monitor-herc-off and then don't power-off the Watchdog). After programming Hercules, the WD must be put back into flight mode (program using the Debug_with_flag flag in CCS).
- Prior to RC8, Hercules monitoring was not activated in the WD, so in this particular release, we just had to make sure Hercules was programmed before the Watchdog.
REMINDER: Only CCS v9.1.0 is used for programming both the Watchdog and the Hercules at this point.

Full Changelog: rc7...rc8

3. Operations Highlights

(3.0) Battery Charging

Before Charging:

The rover was powered and the battery switch was closed. Battery voltages were measured to be:

C1:  3.852V.  (3.852V)  ∂V=0.03V
C2:  7.71V.   (3.858V)  ∂V=0.04V
C3:  11.45V.  (3.740V)  ∂V=0.08V
C4:  15.31V.  (3.860V)  ∂V=0.04V
C5:  19.15V.  (3.840V)  ∂V=0.02V
VBS: 22.91V.  (3.760V)  ∂V=0.06V
Mean: ---      3.818V

After Charging:

C1:  4.095V.  (4.095V)  ∂V=0.02V
C2:  8.19V.   (4.095V)  ∂V=0.02V
C3:  12.25V.  (4.060V)  ∂V=0.02V
C4:  16.34V.  (4.090V)  ∂V=0.01V
C5:  20.44V.  (4.100V)  ∂V=0.02V
VBS: 24.47V.  (4.030V)  ∂V=0.05V
Mean:  ---     4.078V

(3.1) Hercules Programming

During Hercules programming using the Portable Rover Integration Checkout Kit, the long ribbon cables caused communication issues between the programmer and the Hercules. A wide range of seemingly unrelated errors were thrown — below are some examples:

Error connecting to the target:
(Error -232 @ 0x0)
The measured length of the JTAG DR data path is invalid.
This indicates that an error exists in the link-delay or scan-path.
(Emulation package 9.3.0.00042)

Error connecting to the target:
(Error -283 @ 0x0)
The measured TCLK frequency value is out of the supported range.
The utility or debugger has requested the JTAG clock frequency to be measured.
This failed because the actual value was too high or too low for the hardware
...

Something similar occurred in a much earlier RC and was resolved by swapping the USB cables used for the programmer. That alone did not resolve the issue.
We found that swapping to a shielded USB cable and unplugging the laptop from the grounded power strip allowed for programming to start, however it errored out part of the way through several times and was inconsistent.
In the end, to successfully complete Hercules programming we needed to:
- Power the rover over battery power.
- Demate the EGSE lander harness and forgo monitoring RS422 telemetry.
- Apply pressure to the rover EGSE port connectors and the Portable Rover Integration Checkout Kit "PCB" connectors.
- Try a variety of shielded USB cables.
- Try several times.
- Trying with both the laptop's USB port shield and the operator's ESD strap grounded to the spacecraft ground and floating.
In addition to possible grounding issues, it is believed that the ~1m length of the 2x50pin unshielded ribbon cables running from the EGSE port adapter to the Portable Rover Integration Checkout Kit "PCB" was a contributing factor. Shorter 50pin IDC cables have since been procured for any subsequent programming opportunities, should they arrive.

(3.2) WD Programming

After Hercules programming was completed, we proceeded directly into WD programming without changing the rover state. The Watchdog was programmed using the Debug_with_flag flag.

(3.3) Close-Up

Batteries After Programming:

Programming had to be performed using battery power. So, after programming and right before close up, battery cells were quickly measured again:

C1:  4.085V.  (4.085V)  ∂V=0.01V
C2:  8.17V.   (4.085V)  ∂V=0.01V
C3:  12.21V.  (4.040V)  ∂V=0.04V
C4:  16.30V.  (4.090V)  ∂V=0.02V
C5:  Not measured (time).
VBS: Not measured (jumper was installed on "PCB").
Mean:  ---     4.075V

Safe Mode:

The Rover was placed into a safe-mode by re-mating the test lander harness, sending a batt-off command over RS422, removing lander power, and ensuring rover telemetry had discontinued.

4. Final Release Status

Final release status remains the same as RC7, except the following:

TODO

What's Changed

Cleaned up placement of scripts, logs, and caches in GroundSoftware. by @zCoCo in #195
Pull thermal and GDS updates into IPC test bed. by @zCoCo in #198
GDS: Bring latest changes from release candidate into IPC Testbed by @zCoCo in #207
Pull in GSW Improvements for EM4 RC8 Testing by @zCoCo in #208
Changes Uploaded during RC8 by @zCoCo in #212
Bring in new Stable IPC GDS into RC, incl. major GDS infra. improvements. by @zCoCo in #213